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Well, you learn something every day! I did not know this, but the name for Holy Tuesday is sometimes called “Fig Tuesday”! Why?
Because this is the day in which Jesus curses a fig tree. You can read about this story in many of the gospel narratives. Here is the shortest version from the gospel of Mark.
Mark 11:12-14
12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.
This story is a strange one, indeed! I mean why in the world would Jesus curse this fig tree!?! I think this story, meant to be symbolic and prophetic, was Jesus’ way of stirring the pot. Jesus is frustrated with certain factions of the Jewish faith. He’s been in a constant dialogue and outright conflict with some factions of his Jewish faith what makes for “good religion”. For Jesus it was simple: good religion bears good fruit. And with concerns to some of the Jewish contingency, Jesus was clear about what he thought. He didn’t think certain practices in his current religious culture were bearing fruit!
Now, let’s be clear about this. Jesus was not advocating for a demise of the Jewish faith. Jesus was a devout Jew who was trying to reform his religion. He wanted it to be better. He wanted his religion to bear fruit!
So, what might we do with this passage? I find this passage speaking to me and our church today. Are we bearing fruit? Or are we all foliage (all show)?
I find this passage also speaking to my own personal life. Are there things and practices in my life that are not bearing fruit? Maybe it’s time that I cut them out, stop doing them, and start finding new ways to be fruitful?
By the way, when I told my wife, Cyndy, that today is Fig Tuesday, she beamed a big smile and said, “Great! Do we get to eat my favorite cookie today: Fig newtons!?”
And so, I’m sitting down to write this eating, you guessed it: Fig Newtons! Have a great day.
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